City Safari
by sycoandcrazy.inc
Summary: Sequel to Jungle Excursion. Rando has escaped Spirit World prison and gone to ground in America. To bring him back to justice, our favorite Spirit Detectives must travel to the home turf of the World's Greatest Detective. Detective Files AU.
1. Chapter 1

Six Months Ago

Somewhere in America

Rando stumbled into the alley in Human World and collapsed against the side of a building, panting as the rain poured down in sheets. He'd done it; it had taken him seven years, but he'd finally done it. He'd escaped from the prison that Koenma had trapped him in, and he was never, ever going to go back.

Rando crawled to the end of the alley, careful to stay out of sight of any humans that might be nearby. His journey hadn't been easy, and he knew he looked a mess, filthy, exhausted, and barely clothed. He'd take care of those problems later, if he just managed to survive long enough.

It hadn't been easy to escape from the Pit, the prison he'd been left to rot in. Heck, it hadn't been easy to survive in the Pit for the seven years he'd been there. The Pit was a hellish place, with only one entrance, and supposedly no exits. Spirit World provided the prisoners there with absolutely nothing; no supplies, no food, no guards even, _nothing._ If you didn't want to die, you killed the others; if you didn't want to starve, you turned cannibal. There were no other options.

But Rando's years in the Pit had taught him some valuable lessons, lessons he'd need to remember if he was going to survive now. Rando hadn't forgotten his defeat at the hands of Yusuke Urameshi, the bitter humiliation at losing to some punk kid. Rando had been stronger than Urameshi, he'd _beaten_ Urameshi, but Rando's arrogance had been his downfall. He never should have toyed with Urameshi, he should have just killed him.

But he hadn't, and now he was here; he wouldn't be making the same mistakes anymore though. Rando had taken Genkai's words about him not knowing the limits of the abilities he'd stolen to heart. He'd practiced these last seven years while fighting for his life, and was fairly certain that he had his limits figured out by now. He also knew better than to toy with his opponents; if he was going to kill someone, he was going to do it quickly and thoroughly.

Rando had no intentions of fighting Urameshi right now though. It had been seven years and in that time who knew how strong the Spirit Detective may have gotten? If Urameshi was even still alive. Rando really had no way of knowing who Spirit World was employing right now; the prisoners of the Pit didn't actually talk to each other after all. Besides, even if Urameshi hadn't gained any strength at all, Rando was too weakened from his escape to fight him. No, Rando wanted to avoid the Spirit Detective at all costs right now. That's why he hadn't escaped to Japan, where Urameshi actually lived. Rando was smarter than that.

He'd come to America, a country big enough to get lost in for years, if one just knew how.

* * *

Present Day

Gotham City

Batman leaned back in his seat, staring at his computer screen. In the six months since he had gone to Japan with Dick, studying these files had become a hobby (obsession, Alfred sometimes called it). Batman couldn't help it though; those four young men had sparked his curiosity, and when Batman wanted to know something, he didn't stop until he knew.

It hadn't been easy at first to find information about them; after all, he hadn't even had their full names at the time. Kazuma Kuwabara had been the first one that Batman had found online, since Kuwabara had turned out to be his last name.

Batman skimmed over Kuwabara's files. Current age, twenty one, a student at Tokyo University, studying law. According to his school records, he'd been a bit of a problem child during middle school, but seemed to have shaped up very well during high school. He had one sibling, an older sister, Shizuru, and a father, but his mother had died years back when Kuwabara was still in elementary school, the victim of a store robbery gone wrong, which could, Batman noted, be a large part of the reason Kuwabara seemed to be dedicated to fighting crime now.

Finding Kuwabara's files had lead Batman to Yusuke Urameshi's school files, as they'd luckily attended the same middle school. Yusuke was an especially interesting case, for Batman had managed to locate government records of a very real death certificate, as well as a very real graduation from middle school dated after Yusuke's supposed death, as well as other various things to show that Yusuke was definitely still alive. It appeared Yusuke had not attended high school-actually, Batman wasn't sure what he'd done then; by all appearances he'd just disappeared-and he currently owned a raman stand.

Now, Batman knew what the undead were like; he'd fought them before. Batman was pretty sure that Yusuke wasn't undead, though him being so would explain Kurama's remark about Yusuke technically not being human and how Yusuke had been tossed through a tree without getting so much as a scratch on him. But if Yusuke wasn't undead and he wasn't exactly human, what was he? An alien? It certainly wasn't impossible; he could even be half alien, half human.

Speaking of aliens, Batman was pretty well convinced that Hiei was an alien. Hiei's own manner of speaking had suggested he wasn't human, and his red eyes and super speed suggested the same. Couple that with the fact that there were absolutely no records about him of any kind, not even a birth certificate, and Batman was more than ready to believe that Hiei was an alien.

And then of course, there was Kurama. It had been difficult to find any information about Kurama, as it had turned out that was a nickname. Batman had finally resorted to hacking into all of the middle and high schools in the same city as Yusuke and Kuwabara's in order to find information on Kurama. As it turned out, his given name was Shuichi Minamino. He'd been a model student, all A's, never once in trouble; a record far too perfect for any teenager.

Kurama's birth father had passed away years ago, and his mother had remarried a widower with a son (also named Shuichi). Kurama had apparently decided not to attend college and was working at his step father's company.

Batman wasn't sure whether or not Kurama was human. He had doubts about it due to the powers that Kurama had displayed, the fact that his looks shouldn't genetically be possible based on his parentage, and because of what he had said to Yusuke about being allowed to kill him because he wasn't human. That implied that Kurama couldn't kill humans; it also implied that they were working for someone, but who?

When he and Dick had been leaving, Batman had heard Hiei mention the name Koenma. It was possible that this Koenma was the one they worked for, but Batman had been unable to find any records of any sort about this guy, leading Batman to believe that the name Koenma was probably an aliases.

Leaning back in his chair, Batman considered what he had learned. It was quite a bit of interesting information, but it didn't really answer the questions that he wanted answered. What he really wanted to know was who and what these four young men were, and what this organization was that they had to be working for. Batman was certain they were important, and it bothered him that he'd never heard of them before (he'd already ruled out the possibility of them working for an organization that he was familiar with).

"I'm not going to get any more answers from long distance research like this," Batman mused. "I'm going to have to go back to Japan if I want to find anything else out."

It wouldn't be hard to arrange such a thing, but for some reason Batman hesitated. He got a feeling that if he got involved with these four, he'd be getting involved with something much bigger than he was expecting.

_It can't be helped. I need to know what's going on, and whether or not these four are a threat._

Batman didn't think they were, but then Batman had never been one to leave things to chance. As soon as he could arrange it, he was going to Japan, for however long it took to get the answers he wanted. Unfortunately, he had an event at the end of the week as Bruce Wayne that he had no choice but to attend. Once that was done, however, he was heading straight to Japan to get some answers.

* * *

Same Day

Japan

Botan arrived right when Yusuke was closing up shop. Yusuke grinned when he saw her. "Hey, Botan, where have you been? It's been at least two months since you've stopped by. Keiko's been worried about you."

Botan smiled in return, though her smile looked strained. "Hello Yusuke. I'm afraid I've been very busy lately."

Yusuke's smiled slipped away. "This ain't a social visit."

Botan shook her head. "I wish it was."

"What happened?" Yusuke asked. He didn't do much work for Koenma these days, but he was willing to lend a helping hand every so often.

"About six months ago there was a break out from one of Spirit World's prisons," Botan said. "We've been trying to recapture the escapee, but he's managed to keep himself hidden. We only just figured out what area he was in."

"And you want me to catch him?" Yusuke finished for her. "That shouldn't be too hard. Who is he, anyways?"

"Don't underestimate him, Yusuke," Botan warned. "It's Rando."

Yusuke stared at her, and then he started laughing. "Rando? That's who got you worried? I could take that guy in my sleep!"

"Yusuke!" Botan said sharply. "Are you forgetting what happened the first time you and Rando fought? Because the way I remember it, you didn't win."

Yusuke stopped laughing. "Of course I won," he argued.

"No, you didn't," Botan said. "Rando beat you, you and Kuwabara both. The only reason he lost is because he spent too much time playing with you, and you got lucky. You two should have died in that fight, and he's had seven years to get better."

"I've gotten better since then," Yusuke said, annoyed that Botan didn't seem to think he could handle this. "And he's been in jail; how much practice could he have gotten in?"

"He was in the Pit," Botan said.

Yusuke frowned. "What's the Pit?"

"What it sounds like," Botan said. "It's a pit that prisoners are dumped in. There isn't supposed to be a way out; the theory is that the prisoners would eventually just kill each other off."

"Yeah, that seems to be working well. How'd he get out?" Yusuke asked.

"We don't know," Botan said. "We think it may be because of one of the powers he has that we don't know about. After all, he has one hundred, and we've only seen a few."

"So, where'd he go?" Yusuke finally asked.

"According to our sources, he's in America," Botan said.

"America? What's he doing there?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't know," Botan admitted. "When he first escaped we thought he'd just come after you for revenge, but he didn't. We aren't sure what he's planning."

"Hey, if you thought he was going to come after me, why didn't you warn me then?" Yusuke asked. "He could have ambushed me or something!" His eyes narrowed at Botan's nervous laugh. "Were you guys using me as bait?"

"The past is past Yusuke, it is only the present that matters," Botan said, waving a hand airily. "And in the present, you're taking a plane to America."

Yusuke glared, but decided to let it go for now. "I don't know how to speak English," he pointed out.

"You don't, but Kurama and Kuwabara do," Botan said.

"I guess they're coming too then," Yusuke said. "What about Hiei?"

"If he agrees to help, he'll go with you too," Botan said. "We haven't actually talked to him yet."

Yusuke finished packing up the last of his supplies in his raman stand. "So, where in America are we going, anyways?"

"We think he's in Gotham City," Botan said, walking beside him.

Yusuke frowned. "Gotham…I've heard that before…where have I heard that?"

Botan shrugged. "I don't know. Have you met anyone who's been there before?"

"Nah, I don't know anyone who's been to America," Yusuke said, but even as he said it, it hit him. "Wait, that's where those costumed weirdoes were from!"

"Costumed weirdoes?" Botan asked.

"Yeah, when Koenma asked us to find out why all those humans were disappearing in that jungle place," Yusuke said. "What were their names? Oh yeah, Batman and Robin! That was it, Batman and Robin. Robin said they were from Gotham."

"Yusuke, you're going there to find Rando, not for anything else," Botan said with a warning in her voice.

Yusuke did his best to look innocent. "Duh, Botan, I know that already." But Yusuke didn't see why they couldn't do both.

* * *

AN: For those who've already read this, no need to reread if you don't want to. I just decided to split the story up into smaller chapters to make it a slightly easier read on the advice of a reviewer.


	2. Chapter 2

Five Months Ago

Gotham City

Rando wandered the streets of Gotham City, keeping himself to himself. America had turned out to be a far stranger place than he'd expected. In the month he'd spent traveling the country he'd learned a lot about their 'super heroes'. Rando wasn't entirely sure what to make of them. He'd thought at first that they might be psychics, and the idea of adding new powers to his arsenal had been tempting, so he'd hunted some down to observe them.

He'd seen a couple in action, and only been confused, because they didn't have any spirit energy. He'd seen that so called Superman, who was apparently neither human nor yokai. The only other 'super hero' that Rando had seen was the Flash, and that guy confused him more than Superman. The Flash was most definitely human, but his speed was not from the use of spirit energy. Rando had no idea what was going on there.

So now he was here, in Gotham City, where the man known as Batman resided. At this point, Rando had basically given up on the hope of any of the heroes in America actually being psychics that he could steal power from, and was looking more for a place to stay.

_But in Human World, staying somewhere requires money, and I don't have near enough._

He had some money that he'd pick-pocketed from people, but it was enough for a meal from a fast food joint and nothing more. If Rando was going to live here for a while, he'd need a steady income, but Rando had no skills that humans would find useful, or any of those degrees they required for jobs.

Or, he had no skills if he was looking for a legal job (and really, since when had Rando cared about things being legal?). Illegal jobs should be much easier to find.

That's why Rando was wandering around one of the worst areas in Gotham, hoping he would hear something useful.

He'd been walking a while when a group of six thugs came out of an alley and surrounded him. "You lost, pipsqueak?" asked a bald thug that was presumably the leader.

Rando almost sighed at the insult. Granted he hadn't chosen a threatening human form to take; he was shorter and leaner than all of these guys, and he looked to be about twenty years old tops, but still, pipsqueak was stretching it just a bit.

"I'm looking for work," Rando said, thinking these guys might be able to point him in the direction of a gang or something. If, of course they didn't decide to do the stupid thing and attack him.

The men laughed. "A runt like you?" sneered one of the thugs. "Don't make me laugh."

Rando couldn't resist pointing out, "You already have."

"Someone needs a lesson in when to keep their mouth shut," the bald thug said. "Let's teach it to him."

Rando didn't try to stop the feral smile that crossed his face. He hadn't had a fight since he'd escaped the Pit, and who knew? Killing these six just might be what he needed to establish his standing in the underworld here.

A black shadow fell from the sky, and the bald thug was down. In the time it took Rando to stumble back two steps (slipping into innocent human mode out of instinct), the man in the black costume had taken down two more of the thugs.

"It's the Bat!" one of the remaining thugs yelled, just before he was hit from behind by a red suited young man.

"Why does everyone forget about me?" the teenager complained.

It was but the work of moments for the other two thugs to get taken out. Rando stood still, fascinated by the sheer skill the two displayed. They didn't have an ounce of spirit energy, but just from the short fight he'd witnessed, Rando had no doubt that if these two had fought Yusuke at the time Rando had fought him, these two humans would most certainly have won. In all his travels, Rando wasn't sure he'd ever seen normal humans show such skill.

"You okay?" the teenager asked.

At his words, Rando snapped back into character. "Yes, I'm okay, thanks to you two."

The other human, Batman if Rando guessed correctly from what he'd heard, looked at him for just a second before saying, "Go home."

"Of course," Rando said. "Thank you again for saving me."

"No prob," the young man said. "Just try to avoid alleyways from now on, okay?"

"I will," Rando said, giving them a shaky smile of a grateful but still slightly scared person.

Rando started walking away, and the two heroes disappeared. When he was sure they were gone, Rando smiled, an eager thrill rushing through him. These two humans, Batman and Robin, were good at what they did. What would it be like, Rando wondered, to see these two 'heroes' with fearful, broken spirits? It gave him a thrill just thinking about it.

_I want to see it, that look of hopeless terror on their faces._

Yes, that longing to draw things out and watch the fear in his victims' eyes had caused his downfall in his fight against Yusuke, but this was something different. Batman and Robin had no powers to speak of; they'd be helpless to fight against him. Besides, it would be the most fun Rando had had in years.

* * *

Present Day

Gotham City Airport

Yusuke decided he didn't like airports. He didn't like planes either, especially when the kid in back of him kept kicking his seat, and Kurama refused to translate the string of obscenities that Yusuke had wanted to yell at the kid. Kurama also hadn't let Yusuke say them to the kid in Japanese, even though the kid wouldn't have been able to understand it anyways.

Kurama was such a killjoy.

The only one who was having a worse time than Yusuke was Hiei, who looked like he'd rather be gouging his own eyes out than spend another minute in the noisy airport. "Let's leave _now,_" Hiei hissed.

"We have to collect our bags first," Kurama said serenely.

Yusuke eyed him suspiciously. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Travel to another country is always invigorating," Kurama said glibly.

In other words, yes, he was quite enjoying seeing Yusuke and Hiei's frustrations. The jerk. Yusuke would sock him one if he didn't know the paranoid American airport security would probably lock him away for hours.

They got their bags and Kuwabara managed to hail a cab for them. Yusuke was surprised at how annoying it was not to be able to speak the main language. All he could do in the cab ride and while they were checking in the hotel was sort of stand back uselessly, with no real idea of what was going on. The only English he could speak consisted of 'hello', 'goodbye', and 'where's the bathroom'. His only consolation was that Hiei knew even fewer words of English than he did.

Once they were finally settled in the room Koenma had reserved for them, Yusuke said, "Well, I'm all set to go hunting Rando. What about you guys?"

"The sooner we find him, the better," Kuwabara agreed, an angry glint lighting his eyes. Kuwabara obviously hadn't forgotten or forgiven the way Rando had tortured and nearly killed him all those years ago.

Yusuke hadn't forgotten either. The memory of his best friend's broken and twisted body lying on the ground was enough to make his blood boil all over again.

"It wouldn't be wise to start tonight," Kurama objected.

"Why not?" Yusuke asked. "Catching Rando is what we're here for."

"It is," Kurama agreed, "but we are all tired from our trip, and it would be better if we rested now. Besides, we don't know this city; it would be better if we learned about our surroundings before confronting Rando. We wouldn't want to run into unexpected dangers."

"Hmph, how dangerous can a human city be?" Hiei scoffed.

"I've done a bit of research," Kurama said. "This place isn't as safe as you might think."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it earlier, but this is where Batman and Robin said they lived," Yusuke said.

"It is?" Kuwabara exclaimed in surprise.

"Indeed it is," Kurama said. "It is also home to a host of villains they frequently fight."

"How bad could they be?" Yusuke asked. "That Poison Ivy chick wasn't too hard to fight."

"Didn't you get knocked through a tree in that fight?" Kurama asked mildly.

Yusuke winced at the memory. "It wouldn't happen again!"

"No it won't," Kurama agreed, "because we aren't going out there after Rando without a plan and scouting, which will be done in the morning. Sleep tonight."

"Not tired," Yusuke sulked, knowing there was no real point. When Kurama got stubborn, there was no changing his mind.

"Good night," Kurama said firmly, and was that a seed in his hand?

Taking the hint, Yusuke went to bed.

* * *

Later That Night

Police Commissioner Gordon surveyed the scene, and tried not to be sick. A whole family tortured and murdered, and for what? What possible motive could be behind something like this?

"What happened?"

Gordon couldn't help but start when Batman's voice came out of the shadows. "It's a triple homicide, two adults and a twelve year old girl. Looks like they were tortured for a while, until someone finally shot them all in the head."

"Motive?" Batman asked.

"None yet," Gordon said.

"I need time with them alone."

"I can get you five minutes," Gordon told him.

There was no reply, and Gordon knew he was already gone. Gordon wasn't even sure what excuse he came up with to get all his people out of the house; it didn't really matter anyways, because they all knew the real reason. Gordon could tell from the looks on their faces, and he could tell they all hoped that the Batman would get a hold of the scum that had done this.

_And after Batman gets him, it'll be my turn,_ Gordon vowed.

* * *

When Batman saw the bodies, he was glad that Robin was on an overseas trip with his college and not here. Robin had seen plenty he probably should never have been exposed to, but he'd never seen anything this bad, and if Batman had his way, never would.

Batman quickly snapped pictures of the bodies and took samples of blood and hair and other things from around the room. Gordon hadn't given him much time, so he had to work fast. He got what evidence he could and slipped out of the house the back way. He headed back to the Batcave, determined to find out whatever information he could from the evidence he'd gathered as quickly as possible. Once he'd done that, he'd go interrogate some thugs to see what else he could find out.

His grip tightened on the wheel of the Batmobile as the image of the mutilated bodies circled through his mind again and again. Someone was going to _pay._

* * *

Anthony stood as far away from the Freak as he reasonably could while they reported to Draccon. Draccon was a low level mob boss, trying to worm himself into some of the power vacuums that Batman had been leaving by putting away older mob bosses. As far as mob bosses went, Draccon was decent, taking better care of his employees than most. But Anthony was now convinced that Draccon had made a big mistake when he'd hired the Freak.

"Now, what happened at the Matthews' house tonight?" Draccon asked.

"Anthony decided to off the family without using a silencer," the Freak said, looking annoyed. "He woke up the whole neighborhood. We were lucky to get out of there without being seen."

"I lost my cool," Anthony admitted. "But anyone would have lost it if they'd seen what _he_ did to them."

"What did he do?" Draccon asked.

With much gritting of teeth, Anthony described the tortures the Freak had put the Matthews family through; how he'd cut out their tongues so they couldn't scream, how he'd sliced them up bit by bit, starting with the little girl while the parents had been forced to watch.

Anthony had killed plenty of people in his life, men, women, and children. It was his job, and he was good at what he did. What he _didn't_ do was torture for fun, and he'd been in this business long enough to know you couldn't trust anyone who did. Enjoying the job would drive a man insane just as quickly as hating the job. An effective killer had to feel nothing when they killed.

"Smith's methods may have been a little excessive," Draccon started, but Anthony interrupted, a dangerous thing to do with any mob boss.

"He wasn't just a 'little excessive'," Anthony said. "I haven't seen such pointless, sadistic cruelty from anyone to this extreme outside of the Joker."

Everyone flinched at that, except the Freak, who'd been lucky enough to never have met the psychotic clown.

_Bet they'd get along just fine,_ Anthony thought sourly.

Draccon sighed. "Anthony, whatever Smith may have done, _you _were the one that endangered the mission. You've worked well for me so far, so I will be lenient this one time. However, I don't want to hear you've messed up like this again. Smith, try not to get so distracted on simple kill missions."

Anthony left the briefing, not at all happy with the results, but not really surprised. Draccon saw Smith as a useful tool; Anthony saw him as a ticking time bomb that would eventually blow up in their faces. Why didn't mob bosses understand that men like Smith couldn't be bought or controlled? They worked while they thought it was fun, and when it wasn't, they stabbed you in the back. Literally.

There wasn't much Anthony could do though. For now, Smith was one of Draccon's favorites. If Anthony killed him the way he needed to be killed, Anthony's head would be on the chopping block next.

_But what if I wasn't the one that got rid of the Freak? What if someone Draccon already hated got rid of him? Someone like the Batman?_

Anthony knew the plan that was forming in his mind was bound to get him in trouble, one way or another. But someone like Smith _had_ to be gotten rid of, and when it came down to it, Anthony would rather take his chances with Gotham's Dark Knight than he would with Smith. At least he knew there were some things Batman wouldn't do.

* * *

Rando smiled in satisfaction as Anthony stalked away. This night had been very profitable for him. Months of planning and preparation, and Anthony was the final piece.

_Go on my friend; lead the Batman into my trap._


	3. Chapter 3

The Next Morning

Batcave

Batman studied the evidence he had collected and processed through the night, trying to decide who the culprit might be. Given the brutal fashion of the murders, his first thought had been the Joker, but Batman had quickly discarded that idea. The Joker certainly enjoyed sadistic torture, but this murder didn't fit his style. Besides, the Joker had been especially quiet lately; when he resurfaced he was sure to attempt more damage than just the murder of one family.

The modus operandi didn't fit any of the criminals Batman frequently dealt with, which was both a relief and worrying. Batman preferred the danger he knew to the danger he didn't know. But most worrying of all were the strands of long red hair he had found on the scene.

He knew it didn't belong to the Matthews family because they all had black hair, which meant it most likely belonged to whoever had killed them. The DNA he'd gotten from it couldn't be found in any police database, but that wasn't the troubling part. The troubling part was that the DNA was _wrong._ The DNA was definitely human, he had no doubts about that, but it wasn't like any human's he had ever seen before.

_Whoever I'm dealing with, it isn't a normal person._

Which brought him back to the question of why. Why target the Matthews? Batman had done an extensive background check on the family the night before and hadn't been able to find any reason for a person to want them dead.

_I need to get back in their house._

Five minutes hadn't been enough time to find out everything he needed. But to go back in, he'd have to wait until night. Batman wasn't content to just sit back and do nothing until then.

He stood as he heard Alfred's precise steps approaching. "Alfred, I need you to cancel all my appointments today."

Alfred raised one eyebrow. "Including your meeting with the mayor?"

Blast. He'd forgotten about that. Irresponsible billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne might be, but even he wouldn't publicly blow off the mayor of Gotham City. Sometimes Batman hated being a public figure.

"Cancel all my appointments after the mayor," he growled, and went upstairs to change.

* * *

Kurama thanked the waitress that brought them their lunch, and waited until she left before turning his attention back to the conversation at hand. "We've got an idea of the city's layout," Yusuke was saying, "so let's get down to finding Rando already!"

"I don't think it will be that easy," Kurama said.

Yusuke glared at him. He'd been in a bad mood all morning. "And why not?"

Kurama calmly took a bit of his hamburger and swallowed before answering. "Well, we've been traveling this city all day had none of us have sensed any trace of an energy signature from any yokai."

Yusuke looked slightly blank. "I guess not…"

Kurama eyed him. "You were trying to sense his energy this morning, weren't you?"

"Um…"

"Geez, Urameshi," Kuwabara groaned, "that was the whole point!"

"Doesn't matter," Kurama said to forestall an argument from starting. "If the three of us didn't sense him, Yusuke likely wouldn't have either."

"Well, we know he's good at hiding his energy signature," Yusuke said. "Botan and I couldn't sense him at all at Genkai's tournament until he revealed his true form."

"If we can't find him by sensing him, what are we supposed to do?" Kuwabara asked.

"Keep our ears open," Kurama said. "If we hear of anything unusual happening, we'll investigate and hope it will lead us to him."

Hiei looked especially disgruntled at the idea. "If we do that we could be here for weeks."

Kurama shrugged. "There's little else we can do."

They fell silent and Kurama's attention was caught by a TV in the corner when the waitress turned the volume up.

"…brutal murder of the Matthews family. Be warned, this story contains graphic information, and viewer discretion is advised."

Kurama met Kuwabara's eyes as the reporter finished her story. Kuwabara had apparently come to the same conclusion Kurama had. "It's a place to start."

* * *

That Night

The Matthews House

Batman shuffled through the papers he had found in David Matthews's desk drawers. He had yet to find anything interesting so far. They only contained the usual; letters, bills, pay stubs, and other such documents. Nothing to give hint as to why someone would want the family dead, or who might have killed them.

Batman put the papers away and turned on the desktop computer. Maybe there would be something useful on that.

There was an unexpected noise from outside the study. Instantly Batman flipped the computer off and faded into the shadows. He slid closer to the doorway and listened.

"Don't touch anything," a voice was saying in, surprisingly, Japanese. "If it wasn't Rando who did this, we don't want to make things harder for the police."

Batman allowed himself a moment of surprise. He knew that voice, it was Kurama; but what could he possibly be doing here?

"We'll be careful," said a voice Batman recognized as belonging to Urameshi.

Batman ghosted into the hall and headed towards the living room where the voices were coming from.

"Oh man," said Kuwabara's voice. "This was _bad._"

It had been, but what clued Kuwabara in on that, beyond the general fact that no murder was good? The bodies had been removed already been removed, and there was no way he could realize how badly the family had been tortured just by the leftover bloodstains.

"Can anyone feel any energy left over from Rando?" Kurama asked.

There was a moment of silence. Batman had edged close enough by this time that he could see the four young men standing in the living room. They all seemed to be concentrating hard on something Batman couldn't see or hear; most likely trying to notice that energy signature that Kurama had spoken of.

"Got it," Kuwabara said. "Rando was definitely here."

"The oaf is correct," Hiei said. "I can sense him too."

"Good," Kurama said. "Then perhaps he left a trail we can follow."

Batman decided now was a good time to get answers. He stepped out of the shadows and all four jumped, falling into defensive postures until they recognized him.

"How do you _do_ that?" Yusuke demanded. "There's no way we should have missed you!"

Years of practice, but that was beside the point. "You know who killed the Matthews family," Batman said, ignoring Yusuke's question.

Kurama and Hiei glanced at each other. "We do," Kurama said. "But it would not be advisable for you to pursue him. Rando is not as easy to defeat as Poison Ivy was."

Batman's eyes narrowed. They thought he wasn't strong enough to face this Rando person. Gotham was _his city_. The citizens of Gotham were _his people._ Some of his people were now _dead_ because of this madman. They _would not_ keep Batman out of this one. He stepped towards Kurama, his cape fluttering behind him. Batman stopped when there was only a few inches of space left between them.

"Try and stop me."

Kurama held his gaze serenely for a moment before backing away with a sigh. "I think you'd only follow us if we left you behind. It would probably be easier on us all then to work together."

"Cool," Yusuke said. "So, where's Robin?"

"Not here," Batman said shortly. Batman and Robin's private lives were none of Yusuke's business. "Tell me about this Rando."

"He's a serial killer who has fun torturing people," Kurama said. "We know of at least ninety-nine people that he has murdered."

"One hundred and two now," Kuwabara muttered.

Kurama nodded in agreement, and continued. "He attempted to kill Kuwabara and Yusuke seven years ago, but he was defeated, and imprisoned by our employer."

Batman did some quick math in his head. That meant Yusuke and Kuwabara had dealt with this madman at fourteen, and judging by the way the two tensed up at the mention of the meeting, it had been a painful one.

"Who is your employer?" Batman asked.

"I'm afraid we can't tell you that," Kurama said.

It was probably that Koenma person Yusuke had mentioned last time. But if they couldn't tell him who their employer was, it narrowed the options somewhat. It could be that they were working for the Japanese government, but if Yusuke and Kuwabara had faced Rando at fourteen, Batman doubted it. More likely they worked for an organization that the government didn't know existed, and it bothered Batman that he didn't know about it either, especially since this organization obviously didn't just stick to Japan.

"Tell me about whatever special abilities Rando has," Batman said, thinking about the strange DNA he'd found.

All four started. "How do you know he has powers?" Yusuke demanded.

"DNA," Batman said. "I found some here earlier."

Kurama sighed. "Then I suppose you know he isn't human."

Batman managed to conceal his surprise. The DNA he'd found was most certainly human, if unlike anything he'd ever seen before. "What is he exactly?" Batman asked. "I've never seen DNA like his before."

"This may be difficult to believe, but he is a yokai," Kurama said.

Batman knew enough about Japanese mythology to know that meant he was some type of supernatural monster, but it was a pretty broad range. "I suppose you and Hiei are yokai as well?" Batman asked.

Again they looked surprised, except for Kurama. "How'd you figure that out?" Kuwabara asked.

Batman shrugged. "Based on our last encounter, it was easy to figure out they weren't human, though I wasn't sure what they were." He cut his eyes at Yusuke, remembering how Kurama had said Yusuke technically wasn't human. "And I'd guess you're some kind of yokai human hybrid."

Yusuke blinked, and then grinned. "That's so cool! How do you do that?"

Simple detective work. But that was unimportant at the moment. "So whatever organization you work for deals with containing supernatural threats," Batman said.

Kurama smiled ruefully. "You are a good detective."

But Batman couldn't help wondering how supernatural these threats were. Rando was human, of that he had no doubt; unless there had been some other super powered person with him when he killed the Matthews family, and Batman kind of doubted it. And if Rando was actually human, what would that say about Hiei, Yusuke, and Kurama's DNA? Batman was curious. If he could get a hold of some samples, it would be simple enough to test their DNA in his lab.

"You haven't told me about Rando's powers yet," Batman reminded them.

"Let's see," Yusuke said, "he can shoot fire balls out of his hands, some sort of razor wind technique that really sucks to be caught in, can shrink people after saying this stupidly long chant, some sort of magic rope thingy that he can control, can summon evil monster fish and low level yokai…Am I missing anything?"

"He can also use your Spirit Gun," Kuwabara added. "That means he can shoot blasts of energy from his fingertips," he added for Batman's sake.

"He also has ninety-three other abilities we don't know of," Kurama said.

Batman would have raised his eyebrows if there had been any point to the gesture; given his mask, they wouldn't be able to see the expression. "How did he get so many powers?"

"I suppose it could be said that his true power is the ability to copy the powers of human psychics," Kurama said. "Once he figures out how to copy the powers of a psychic, he then kills them. When Yusuke and Kuwabara fought him last, he had stolen the powers of ninety-nine psychics. Fortunately they managed to capture Rando before he claimed his one hundredth victim, but he has escaped the prison he was in, and…Well, you've seen the result."

Great. Such a large variety of abilities would make Rando very unpredictable. The best way to take him out then would be by ambush, and they'd have to hit hard and fast to get him.

A noise sounded then, coming from the back of the house. Everyone got still and strained their ears to hear better. It sounded again, and Batman was sure; someone was opening a window. Batman motioned them back and faded into the shadows. A man was climbing through the window at the back of the hall. Average height, muscular build, carrying at least two guns and a knife. The man turned to close the window, and Batman moved.

A quick blow to the back of the head to stun him, but not hard enough to knock him out. A yank and a twist, and the man was lying face down on the floor with his arms pinned behind him in a hold he wasn't likely to get out of.

"Who are you?" Batman growled. "Why are you here?"

"Name's not important," the man grunted. "And I came 'cause I figured you'd be here."

Batman's eyes narrowed. This wasn't one of his informants; why would he have sought Batman out? Especially since Batman was pretty sure he was a criminal.

"I wanted to tell you about who killed this family," the man continued.

"Talk," Batman ordered, not releasing him. The man didn't argue about his position.

"They were ordered killed by Draccon," he said.

Batman knew that name. Bertrand Draccon was a low level mob boss that was trying to bully his way into some of the power vacuums that Batman had left. Batman had planned to take care of the mobster eventually, but had had bigger fish to fry and left Draccon for later. Apparently that had been a mistake, and one Batman was going to rectify soon.

"Draccon wanted to start a protection racket in this area, but the people weren't paying up," the man said. "So he sent one of his killers, Smith, to make an example of this family for the rest of the neighborhood."

"Where is he?" Batman asked.

"He lives on Crime Alley."

Of course he did. Why not be cliché and live on Crime Alley if you were a criminal?

"Why tell me all this?" Batman asked.

"Because Draccon thinks he can control Smith, but he can't," the man said. "I've dealt with men like him before; they all turn on you eventually."

"Why not take care of him yourself?" Batman asked. Since this man worked for a mobster, he'd certainly have no problem with murder.

"He's Draccon's favorite right now," he said. "If I kill him, it's my head on the chopping block."

And if Draccon ever found out about this conversation, the man's head was still on the chopping block, which he had to know. Making a quick decision Batman knocked the informant out, dragged him into the study and cuffed him to the heavy desk. He'd call Gordon later and tell him to come pick the man up.

The other four approached him after he was done. "Well, that's convenient," Yusuke said cheerfully. "Now we know where to look for Rando."

"It was too convenient," Batman said. He stood and looked over at them. "You say Rando usually only kills psychics after he copies their powers?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said.

"Then this murder breaks his MO," Batman said. "Serial killers don't do that. Not without a very big reason." He paused a moment. All of his instincts were screaming the same thing. "I think this is a trap."

"For who?" Kuwabara asked.

"Me."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Hiei asked.

Batman narrowed his eyes at Hiei. "Because it happened in Gotham."

* * *

Kurama mulled over the things that had happened as they followed Batman over the rooftops towards the place called Crime Alley. It was strange to think how much this stranger had figured out about them. It made Kurama wonder if he knew even more than he was letting on.

_But why go through the trouble of figuring all this out? It isn't like we even live in America, much less Gotham._

Kurama had to chalk it up to simple curiosity; most detectives were, by nature, curious people.

"How much farther?" Yusuke asked.

Batman glanced at him, and Kurama noted that to anyone else, the glance probably would have been intimidating. Batman's costume did a good job of making him look inhuman, especially his mask. Batman's mask made his eyes look like blank white slits, impossible to read, and probably quite unsettling for the average human.

"Not much," Batman said. He paused then, raising his left hand to his ear, most likely getting a communication. Batman had made two calls when they left the Matthews' house; one to Police Commissioner Gordon letting him know about the criminal in the house, and the other to an as yet unnamed person asking for a list of houses and apartments on Crime Alley recently bought or rented by either Draccon or anyone with the last name of Smith.

Batman listened for a moment and then said, "Thanks."

"You know where he's at?" Kurama asked.

"Yes," Batman said. His answers tended to be as short and clipped as Hiei's. He set off with a new determination in his stride, leaving Kurama and his friends with no real choice but to follow. It wasn't too much longer before they came to a street that was cramped with houses and apartment buildings side by side. Making use of his grapnel gun, Batman lowered himself to an alley way between two apartment buildings. The others followed him down, hopping from fire escape to fire escape.

Batman had already half melted into the shadows when they reached the ground. This was another trick that impressed Kurama, the way Batman could simply make himself seem to vanish into thin air.

"Rando should be staying in the house three buildings down from here," Batman said quietly in that gravelly voice of his. "When we get there, let me go in first as a distraction. He doesn't know you four are here, so when he thinks he has me, he should let his guard down. That's when you four will hit, hard and fast, and take him down."

Kurama nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"How do we know when to go in?" Hiei asked.

Batman considered. "Wait at least five minutes; from there, use your own discretion."

They snuck down the street to the house in question. Kurama and his friends settled in the backyard, while Batman slipped inside. It seemed the backdoor was unlocked, so he got inside easily enough. Once the caped man had disappeared, Kurama started to count.

* * *

It bothered Batman that the door wasn't locked. Rando knew Batman was coming after him; he had to know. And he didn't even bother to lock the door? Not that a lock would have stopped Batman for more than a few seconds. But still. It only strengthened Batman's belief that this was a trap.

Batman scanned the living room he was in. No sign of any living creature, nor could Batman hear anything from any of the adjoining rooms. Even so, Batman carefully searched each, only to find them empty.

_Where is he?_

Batman came to the last door and opened it to find stairs leading downwards. A basement then. Batman stood at the edge of the door, listening for any noise that might give Rando away.

"Why don't you come on down?" called a male voice. "We won't get anything done if you stay up there."

_Rando._

It had to be. Batman descended the steps into the dark basement. When he stepped onto the concrete floor, the naked light bulbs flicked on. Batman's quick eyes noticed everything, from the stained cinderblock walls, to the lack of objects in the room, to the young man standing in front of him. He was unremarkable in appearance, standing five foot ten, with a lean build, short brown hair, brown eyes, and a completely forgettable face.

Behind him was the only piece of furniture in the room, a simple wooden table. Strapped to that table was Dick.

_How? Dick left the country five days ago!_

Rando grinned. "You'd be surprised how easy it is for someone of my skill to sneak people out of airports." He glanced down at Dick's bloody, unconscious form. "But he did surprise me, I must admit. No matter how much I break his body, I can't seem to break his spirit, which is what I really want."

Batman's anger blinded him for a moment, and he lunged at Rando. However, Rando had been waiting for such a move. He ducked Batman's punch and hit him in the chest with a blast of energy that knocked him back into the wall with a sickening crunch. Despite the pain, Batman rolled to the side and to his feet, dodging a blast of electricity that probably would have shorted out every piece of electronics he had on himself.

Stupid, to have lunged at Rando like that; but Batman was only human, and how else was he supposed to react when he saw the young man he'd raised since he was a boy of eight laid out and hurt so badly? Which was, he understood, the whole point. If he reacted in anger, he reacted foolishly. Ignore Dick and his injuries then, harness his anger. He had to think, not simply react.

_Where are Yusuke and the others?_

Their five minutes were up, and this basement was not the best place to fight, especially with Dick so badly wounded.

Rando grinned at him. "You have no idea what you're up against here, Batman."

"A better idea than you think," Batman said before tossing two of his sharpened Batarangs.

Rando dodged, and his hands crackled with electricity. Before he could get a shot off, a blast of white light hit him, knocking him into the wall and cracking the cinderblocks.

Yusuke jumped off the basement steps, followed by the other young men. "Hey, Rando. Remember me?"

Rando stood up and his eyes widened. "Urameshi? What are you doing here?"

Yusuke bared his teeth in a mockery of a grin. "I'm here to kick your butt!"

Yusuke took a step forward, and then Rando vanished. Yusuke froze. "What the?"

Batman didn't hesitate before switching his visor to infrared, doubting that Rando had simply vanished away. _There._

Batman threw his bolas and caught Rando around the ankles, tripping him up so he fell to the ground. It didn't turn him visible again, but it was enough to let the others know exactly where he was, and that was all Yusuke needed. Before the others could reacted, Yusuke lunged and slammed his fist down. It stopped, several inches away from Rando, who was suddenly visible again, but had a barrier blocking Yusuke's attack. Then Kuwabara joined in, slashing down with a glowing sword.

A second before they broke through, Batman covered Dick. It was a smart move, as once the two broke through Rando's barrier a black lash of energy flashed out and slammed into him. He managed to shield Dick, but he was going to have a colorful collection of bruises to show for this night.

Once the dust settled, Batman heard Hiei comment, "If it was going to be that easy, why'd Koenma bother to send us?"

Batman looked up to see Rando unconscious on the ground. Kurama's eyes sharpened when he noticed Dick. "Who's that?"

"One of Rando's victims," Batman said. If they didn't recognize Robin, he wasn't going to tell them who he was. "Rando said he had him for several days."

Kurama stepped forward and eyed his injuries. "Some of my plants can help, but I'm no healer. I won't be able to do much for him," he said, growing a strange, fleshy yellow plant.

Batman studied Dick's injuries. He was badly hurt, many of his bones broken or shattered completely. With a great deal of work, he might be able to get back to a normal life, but he'd never again be at the physical level required to be Robin.

"Hey, Botan," Yusuke said, distracting Batman. Yusuke was speaking into a small pink compact. "We've got Rando. Hurry up and come."

"Good," said a female voice. "I'll be right there to collect him."

A few moments later a swirling purple and black portal opened up and a woman in a pink kimono with bright blue hair and eyes the color of bubblegum floated in the basement on an oar. She smiled brightly. "Oh good, I'm glad you caught him, and everyone's okay."

"Botan," Kurama said, "we've got an injured person over here. Can you do something for him?"

The woman's smile dropped as she noticed Batman and Dick for the first time. "Er, I'm not really supposed to interfere…."

Yusuke yanked her off her oar. "Screw the rules, Botan! If Koenma gets his diaper in a twist over this, he can deal with me! Rando killed three people while he was here, and we're not letting him have another victim!"

Botan held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll help." She went to the table and held her hands over Dick's prone form. A gentle white glow surrounded her hands and Dick. She closed her eyes in concentration and stayed very still. As Batman watched, color slowly came back to his face, and his bones moved back to their correct shape. Finally, she stopped, sweat beading on her forehead.

"I've done the best I can," she said. "He's not completely better, but he should make a full recovery."

Batman was relieved. Dick should be back to normal soon then.

"Can we go now?" Hiei snapped.

"Sure," Botan said. She glanced uncertainly at Batman.

"I'll handle things on this end," he said firmly. "Go."

"I'm sure you will," she said. "But there is some protocol, and well, you're not really supposed to know about us…"

"It's fine, Botan," Kurama said. "Batman is good at keeping secrets, and he doesn't know everything."

Yet. Batman would figure things out.

Botan sighed. "Koenma is not going to like this."

"Yeah, well, Koenma can shove it," Yusuke said.

"Goodbye, Batman," Kurama said, nodding.

"Tell Robin we said hi," Kuwabara added as they headed for the portal.

Batman didn't speak as they all trooped through the portal. As soon as the portal vanished Batman turned his attention back to Dick. He had things to do.

* * *

The Next Morning

The Batcave

Batman looked up from his computer when he heard Dick wake up. Quickly he stood and made his way over to the bed where Dick had sat halfway up before sinking back down. "Batman," he said, his voice filled with relief. "It took you long enough to find me."

"How do you feel?" Batman said gruffly.

"Better than I should," Dick said. "What happened?"

Batman told him about it in clipped tones. "Lucky for me they showed up," Dick said. "If they hadn't…" he didn't finish the sentence, but they both knew what he meant. If they hadn't showed up, then Dick's life would be very different now.

Batman headed back to the computer, and Dick followed him at a slightly slower pace. "What are you working on now?"

"I told you how Rando's DNA was human, but the others said he wasn't?" Batman said.

"Yeah," Dick said, leaning on the back of Batman's chair.

"I got samples of their DNA as well," Batman said. Dick didn't bother questioning how he had done this.

"Well?" Dick asked. "What does it say about them?"

"They're all human," Batman said. "According to their DNA at least. They're different, like Rando's DNA was different, except for Kuwabara's DNA. His looks normal. But despite the differences, it's definitely human DNA."

"But they don't think they're human," Dick said. "So what does it all mean?"

"I'm not sure yet," Batman said. "Maybe I'll figure it out next time."

"Next time?" Dick asked, surprised.

Batman didn't bother to answer. If there was one thing he'd learned in his time dealing with villains and heroes, it was that there was always a next time.

* * *

AN: Well, this sequel has been long in the making. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Just so you know, I'm taking things from Batman: The Animated Series continuity, though this is set at no specific point during it except pre-Batgirl.

Oh, and before I get anyone jumping on me for the whole 'human DNA' thing, I have reasons for it. Trust me. If I ever get around to writing the third installment of this crossover AU I will explain it. Don't expect it to come out soon though.


End file.
